Keep 'em Coming - Why Loyalty Systems are Important to Your Business

Industry statistics have recorded that loyalty members will visit a
site 50% more than a non loyalty members and when they do visit they
will spend 4 times than other customers. The hospitality industry is
highly competitive. Sometimes it is simply not enough to offer fantastic
service, wonderful meals, exquisite wine selection and a warm, friendly
and unique ambiance.

When hospitality businesses are looking to communicate with their
regular customers they can do it via a loyalty rewards system. A loyalty
system allows the business owner to build a database of their regular
customer that enables them to know what their customers like, how often
they visit and who visits and spends the most.

A loyalty system also allows the business owner to communicate
directly to their database of customers via email, SMS txt or post.

At the Point of Sale a Loyalty system can be used in a number of
different ways that provide a link between your customer’s and your
staff. The normal loyalty functions available as the Point of Sale are;

Members can earn loyalty rewards points for the items that
they purchase. Each item should have the ability to have different
point values depending on the profit of the items. Some items may not
have any loyalty points and some may range from 3% to 10% of the sale
price.

Members should be able to load money on their loyalty card and use that money to make purchases at future dates.

The Point of Sale system should provide information to the
staff member about the member. The normal things are their favourite
items; if today is their birthday or their first visit.

Members may also get a discount over and above or instead of a loyalty rewards system.

If the business sends orders to the barista, bar printer
or the kitchen then the Point of Sale system should be able to show the
members details on the order providing the delivery staff with the
member’s name to deliver a personal touch!

Members join a loyalty club to feel special. A point of sale system
that can allow members only happy hours will enable the business to
focus on their loyalty members rather than offering happy hour prices to
everybody.

The joining of a loyalty club should be a special occasion and not
just a case of handing over a pre-printed card that appears to have no
value. Some points that assist in adding value to the card and ensure
that the database is full of quality loyalty members are;

Get the member to complete a loyalty application form so
that the quality of the data captured is high and so you can capture the
information you require. The typical minimum details captured are name,
cell phone and email.

It is normal to charge the member to join the loyalty
club. This may be a small cost of $5.00 to cover the cost of the card
and setup costs. It is normal that many businesses will then add a bonus
$10.00 to the new card to encourage the member to use the card quickly.

The way a member receives the card is also important to
the perceived value. If possible post the loyalty card to the member
(this involved capturing the postal details) along with a voucher to
redeem at the restaurant or bar. If it is not feasible to post something
out then invite the member to come at collect the loyalty card via
email and remind them that the card has a $10.00 bonus on it so that
they use it when they pick up the card.

Once the loyalty system is up and running it is important to keep the
loyalty database fresh. There are hundreds of loyalty systems around
the world that are not effective. They provide small loyalty rewards,
they don’t communicate to the customers and the benefits remain the same
month in month out. To keep the loyalty system fresh provide monthly
promotions

Run a promotion where a certain item or items are running at triple loyalty points

Run Member only Happy Hours

Open the restaurant to Members Only for the release of the new Menu

Reward regular members with special bonus vouchers

A loyalty system is a continual work in progress of communicating
with the businesses loyalty members. It does not run itself and can be
the main form of marketing for a highly focused hospitality business.